Konchesky delighted to face old chum Terry

Paul Konchesky sat in his front room, watching on TV as John Terry led England on to the pitch in the Amsterdam ArenA this week.

Chest out and eyes focused, Terry was fulfilling his destiny and nobody was more thrilled than his old pal from the Barking and Dagenham schools district team.

Konchesky replayed memories of the time when he hacked Terry's hair off, their early efforts on the golf course and a surreal 45 minutes when they played together for their country.

Now they will share the same pitch again when West Ham travel across London to Chelsea.

Konchesky said: "John always wanted to be a captain. Now he's England captain, and I'm sure he will be for a long time. I'm chuffed for him. I was probably the first to ring him when I heard about it.

"When you start to get older and realise you're close to doing what you want to do, you push yourself . . . and fortunately we've been able to hit the heights we've hit.

"You've got to have a bit of talent to get as far as we've gone so far but, as kids, all we wanted to do was play football and we worked hard and got our rewards."

Konchesky was the first of the pair to make his full England debut, coming on as a half-time sub in the 3-1 defeat by Australia, at Upton Park, in February 2003.

Cheering from the stands were John Terry and his brother Paul, who now plays for Yeovil and is married to Konchesky's sister Sarah.

Terry won his first cap four months later and Wednesday's 1-1 draw in Holland was his 35th England appearance and his sixth as captain.

Konchesky said: "We first met as kids at under-eights level. He was Barking, I was Dagenham and we came together at district level and we always played together from then on.

"Our friendship developed off the pitch. John stayed round my house a bit. I stayed with him. We always seemed to be with his brother Paul as well because he got together with my sister through John and me.

"We were obsessed with football but we'd go golfing, playing pitch-and-putt. I was shocking and Paul wasn't so good but John's not bad.

"We did some mad-stupid things, like you do as kids., For instance, he used to have big, long hair once and I cut it all off for him.

"But he was only a little boy back then. I was always taller than him. He was this tiny central midfielder. He's a unit now. From 15, he just shot up and he hasn't stopped growing yet!"

Konchesky and Terry, both now 25, shared lifts to games for the Senrab boys team which nurtured so many future stars.

Ledley King, Jlloyd Samuel and Bobby Zamora played in the same side and their manager Paul Rolls remembers Konchesky as a flying winger and Terry as a natural captain.

Rolls said: "John was always going to be a footballer. He played in midfield but one year he scored in every game except one. He was strong and he could pass a ball. And he was always a leader, even at 11. He'd encourage everybody, clapping his hands, shouting.

"Paul was one of the quickest players in the league and had a powerful left foot. Off the pitch he was like a comedian. He was a bit more grown up than John. We'd be having a laugh, thinking it was stuff that would go over the kids' heads, but Paul would sit there, chuckling his head off."

Terry and Konchesky, playing for different clubs and living in different places, spend less social time together now but stay in touch and swap shirts once a year after their games.

Chelsea beat West Ham 4-1 the last time they met. The Blues played most of the game with 10 men in what was to prove one of the defining games as they retained the Premiership title.

Two-year-old Frankie Terry, son of Paul and Sarah, was the mascot for that game and took the pitch before the game holding his Uncle John's hand, wearing a special shirt which was half West Ham and half Chelsea.

Konchesky said: "His sister Georgia was supposed to go out as well but she was a bit scared by all the noise. Frankie loved it. He wasn't bothered. He was out there with his Uncle John. He didn't want to leave.

"I've played against John quite a few times. We don't clash often because I play at left back and he's a centre half.

"But we did have a big one together a few years ago at the Bridge. I was playing for Charlton and he went right through me. He did me good and proper. I wouldn't expect anything else."

If Terry's destiny was to captain England, then Konchesky's was to play for his beloved Hammers.

He scored in last season's FA Cup Final but has not played for England since he came on to win his second cap, in last year's 3-2 friendly win against Argentina in Switzerland.

Konchesky said: "It was special to play with John again but it was funny. I sat there afterwards thinking about the time growing up with him and playing alongside him at kids level. and there we were. We'd been playing together for England."